The 1990s were a period of tremendous artistic vigour, experimentation, and liberation for Ukrainian culture. The artists who emerged at this time unleashed a tidal wave of creativity that deliberately and aggressively reshaped inherited models. In this first English monograph on contemporary Ukrainian literature, Mark Andryczyk provides an in-depth analysis of the cultural explosion that engulfed Ukraine in its first decade of independence.

The Intellectual as Hero in 1990s Ukrainian Fiction weaves a fascinating narrative full of colourful characters by examining the prose of today's leading writers. Andryczyk delves into the role of the intellectual in forging a post-Soviet Ukrainian identity, and follows these protagonists as they soar and stumble in pursuit of redefining their creative realm. In addition to introducing readers to vibrant literary gems, this book explores the artistic tendencies that determined the course of the Ukrainian cultural scene in the 1990s, and continue to shape it today.

Mark Andryczyk is an associate research scholar at the Harriman Institute of Russian, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies at Columbia University and a visiting fellow in Ukrainian Literature in its Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

INTRODUCTION: Approaching the Post-Soviet Ukrainian Intellectual or the Word “Intellectual” Pronounced with a Ukrainian Accent

PART ONE: EUPHORIA

Chapter One: New Prototypes of the Ukrainian Intellectual in post-Soviet Ukrainian Prose - The Swashbuckling Performer

Chapter Two: New Prototypes of the Ukrainian Intellectual in post-Soviet Ukrainian Prose – The Ambassador to the West

Chapter Three: Deconstructive Revelry

PART TWO: CHAOS

Chapter Four: New Prototypes of the Ukrainian Intellectual in post-Soviet Ukrainian Prose – The Sick Soul

Chapter Five: A Return to the Margins

PART THREE: COMMUNITY

Chapter Six: Agents of the Metaphysical

Chapter Seven: A Community of Others

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

‘The only monograph in English dedicated in its entirety to contemporary Ukrainian literature. More are bound to follow, but Andryczyk’s study is more than worthy of its landmark status.’

Uilleam Blacker, Slavonic and East European Review; vol 91:02:2013

‘The book provides a reliable guide to some of the richest and most innovative
works written in Ukrainian.&rsquo